Week Twelve Post

This is my final blog, well at least my final one for the class. I really plan on continuing my blogging, this was my first blog and I've actually enjoyed doing it. I think my having us blog about our experiences and readings we are really forced to take some time and step back and evaluate what we are learning. In so many classes we sit and are lectured to and the information goes in one ear and out the other, throughout this class, my journaling and blogging I am able to go back and remember specific things I learned and carry those with me in the future. It's hard learning so much at one time because when we all have our own classrooms over a year from now we will be dying to try and remember something from these classes. I always enjoy knowing that I will have something to go back and look at to recall things I learned. I have throughly enjoyed this class and truly believe the articles and lectures will all come in handy when I someday have my own class. Thank you Linda for being such an amazing teacher!

Week Eleven Post

With the semester quickly wrapping up, I'm beginning to reflect on this first cluster and field experience as a whole. I was disappointed with my field placement and the lack of experience I gained from it; I was expecting some sort of opportunity to teach a lesson or get in front of the classroom instead of just observing. I am hoping that before I am student teaching I will get to accomplish some real time teaching a class some sort of lesson or activity. I have definitely enjoyed the classes in this first cluster though. I think the material we have learned in information that will be extremely useful in my future classroom. It has made me excited about what is to come in the future semesters as far as material and books I will carry with my after I graduate. I thought the textbooks our teachers selected were excellent and I will probably be keeping most of them to have in my classroom. I enjoyed learning about writer's notebooks and how much they can contribute to a student's writing craft and to a classroom as a whole, I know that will be one thing I will do with my students no matter what grade I end up teaching.

Week Ten Post

During today's field placement I mainly observed. I wanted to reflect on last week's class where we presented our MGRP. I really really enjoyed getting to hear everyone's presentations and thought it seemed like everyone put in a lot of work, time, and effort. I DEFINITELY plan on having my class do this project. I think it taught me to push the limit and really explore my chosen subject beyond what all the other researchers out there had done. I also thought it was interesting because it showed me I was able to produce so many different genres of writing. I never thought I would be able to write an obituary, or a president's speech, or even a caption for a photo but this project allowed me to step into any role I wanted. I really enjoyed it and I thought everyone did an amazing job!!

Week Nine Post

For field placement, we have been assigned a kidwatching student. My student is a sixth grade girl who seems to be more interested in her looks, and boy than school. She is so extremely smart, but while interviewing her I learned that both her parents are farmers and they expect her to carry on that family tradition. Her parents seem she think she is overly smart for her age, when in reality she is a little behind for the gifted and talented class. It is hard to explain to her parents who both only graduated form high school that she is actually struggling to keep up with the other gifted students her age.
I was sad to hear during our interview that she had NEVER written an actual letter nor had she gotten one in the mail. She kept referring to e-mails when I would ask about letter writing. I guess it's just a new age and different era. So many things that we grew up with our students will never even know or experience.

Week Eight Post

The semester is flying by! Now that we have started working on our multi genre research papers I am beginning to realize how research papers can be more fun. The students in my 6th grade field placement class are writing research papers and they seem quite bored with them. I remember always being bored with research papers as well, but the idea of creating new genres of work make it way more exciting. I am not sure if I will end up teaching in a grade high enough to be working on research papers, but I think you could apply the idea of creating multiple genres from one type of work to things other than just research papers. Students could find a journal entry, or any type of paper they have written and create a new piece from it. I think when you take some time away from a piece of writing you've done and them come back and look at it, you always have a new perspective on it and new great ideas!

Week Seven Post

I was unable to attend my field placement this past week because I was sick, but even being gone one day I feel that I missed a lot. We are starting to work on our "kidwatching" assignments and are being assigned one student to watch and begin gathering information for. I have no met my student yet, but hopefully it will be one that I get along with and who feels comfortable talking and working with me.
I have noticed that when I walk around some of the students are more hesitant than others to talk much or continue working because they seem shy or embarrassed about me standing over their shoulder. I try and talk to these students about something other than what they're working on first so they get to feel a little more relaxed and comfortable. I remember being a student and always being a little on edge when someone new was in our classroom, I always felt like they were "studying" me and what I was doing like some sort of experiment so I try and ease the students worries as much as possible.
I am finding more and more that there are things that come up in the classroom that I all of a sudden remember doing or feeling when I was a student. I think it's important as a teacher to remember the experiences you had as a student and stick with what worked and what you liked but change the things that you didn't enjoy or that made you feel uncomfortable.
Overall, I just really can't wait till I have my own classroom!! I am learning so many things and I know I still have a lot to learn but I just want to jump right into it all right now. Every time I get a new field placement I get to experience something new and learn a new technique for handling situations so I know that once I am a teacher I will learn new things each year, each day actually.

Week Six Post

It is hard to reflect on myself as a teacher of writing because during my time in the classroom at University Elementary on Wednesday mornings I do not actually TEACH any writing, I am more of a supporter/facilitator. The students in my class are in the middle of a Ancient Greece unit and they are currently working on writing research papers. The students amaze me more and more every week with how intelligent they are, and only in sixth grade! So far, they have completed outlines with a topic, subtopics, and guiding questions. Now, they are starting their research using their outlines as a way to stay on track and be sure they are only researching relevant information that will pertain to their paper. As I walk around, I realize that when I am writing a paper I do not start with an outline and I end up researching any and every thing there is relating to my topic. It is interesting to see how I am learning from my students as well as them learning from me.
While I walk around and conference with the students I find myself trying to leave each group with a praise (something they are doing very well so far) and also a suggestion of something they need to work on. It seems to be working well so far, I will keep you all updated on how the projects are coming! I am anxious to actually read some of the papers!!